December 17, 2006: I saw the show at Loonees tonight. Great show. Ryan Lowery was the opener. He is the big success story from the Loonees comedy workshop - he began the workshop in February 2006, and is now playing all over the state, and getting better and more experienced each month. He simply did every gig he could get, even if it meant driving to Denver for a few minute unpaid gig, and it's paying off. He's also very funny, especially for an opening act. Charlie Moreno was the feature, and did a great set. Chris (Crazy Legs) Fonseca was the headliner, and he was incredible. He has cerebral palsy, and hasn't let that stand in his way as he's become a successful comic. He uses his disability as the basis for a lot of his humor. Maybe because of the CP, audiences connect with him more strongly than other performers.
Strangely enough, all three performers live in Colorado Springs. Loonees gets comedians from all over the country, so that's rare.
December 14, 2006: I did Grounds N Giggles - my first gig in two months. My Mapquest directions were inaccurate, so I ended up lost in downtown Denver - NOT good. But I did get there eventually. The gig itself was VERY low pressure. When I was there, the audience consisted of the comedians themselves, and three friends. Two other guys came in after the show had gone on maybe 30 minutes.
It's a Christian coffeehouse. That means that profanity is out, as well as sexual stuff and using God's name disrespectfully. In addition, although it's not explicitly forbidden, nobody did anything that disparaged any ethnicity. There are bits that appear here that you would not find at a comedy club - for example, one comic described saying "Amen" at inappropriate times in church.
The fact that it's a coffeehouse also unfortunately means that some loud piece of equipment, maybe a coffee grinder, was turned on occasionally without warning. We comics just talked through it as best we could.
I opened with a gag about the difference between Christians and Jews that couldn't have been done at a nightclub. The I did my "dangerous killer" routine, and then used a variant of a Toastmasters humorous speech on pregnancy that I last gave a few years ago. I closed with my Godzilla bit, which for some reason doesn't get the laughs away from the Loonees workshop that it gets in the workshop, where it's a guaranteed hit. I got a decent reception, but I have to say it's not anything like getting a solid laugh from a full house. December 10, 2006: I had recently moved from Colorado Springs to Denver, and the climate is a LOT better for comics here. I contacted Grounds 'n' Giggles, a Denver-based Christian coffeeshop, and was offered a five minute gig just for asking! I'll be playing on Thursday, December 14! The catch is that it has to be completely clean, and while my material isn't dirty, it's probably too risque. So I'll be using only my cleanest material and adding some new material.
One of my fantasies has been to play Focus on the Family, a Christian organization in Colorado Springs. So I get to try my material out first!
December 3, 2006: I blew it... Jay Wendell Walker, who has almost as much experience as I've been on this earth, came to the workshop today. He watched us do our bits. For some inexplicable reason, I chose to do my Godzilla bit and a new bit about ethnic restaurants. Both fell flat. I should have done my dating bit or my airplane bit, which would have impressed him...
I saw him perform later that night. Pure class. He played to a sparse house, and brought almost every single audience member into the act. A big contrast to the October 15th performer.
November 30, 2006: Daniel Beehler met with Loonees management, while I was unable to make it. The show is coming together for January 30, and is looking very good. Charlie Moreno is giving us the benefit of his web design experience and has out together flyers and a web page for the benefit. Paul Cardozo will be the headliner, and Charlie will feature. I'm gonna be in a gig!!!
November 24, 2006: I had spent Thanksgiving in New Jersey, with my grandmother. While there, I figured I'd go to a local comedy club. There was only one, and they didn't answer the phone calls I made to the two numbers listed on their website (one gave me a recorded message about the restaurant they met in, and the other put me through to the hotel that THAT club met in, and none of the hotel employees knew anything about the club), so I had to actually drive over to find anything out. They charged $20 just to get in, and it went up to over $50 if you bought a meal as well.
I guess that Loonees in Colorado Springs has spoiled me. They charge $6 for admission, but get most if not all of their attendees by waiving the fee. You are required to buy two items while there, and while they make most of their money from the markup on drinks, I have been ordering a sandwich and juice every time I've been there. I get a show, a cheap dinner, and leave a decent tip for just over $13.
I guess the East Coast is a different ballgame for comedy.
November 13, 2006: Daniel Beehler, from the comedy workshop at Loonees, called me. He's putting together a comedy benefit for the Colorado Arts Consortium. Looks pretty promising - we have to check out Loonees and my synagogue as possible venues.
November 12, 2006: Gary Wilson was doing a gig out of state and couldn't teach the comedy workshop, so Charlie Moreno did instead. He told us some tricks to breaking in. For example, one of the things he did to start his career was to organize a benefit for an injured child. He got permission from the child's family, gathered comedians, contacted the media, got sponsors to donate, and got a venue. It took him a month and a half, and when it was done, he had press clippings, a five minute tape of his act, and contacts with local media, and the family had $3000 towards their medical expenses.
He laughed about my guest set on September 18 - how nervous I was, how badly I used the mike, and my lame finish. I was glad to hear that - he never would have talked like that if I hadn't made significant progress since.
He also mentioned something about his life. I already knew that he grew up in a violent area, filled with gangs and drugs. Today he told us that when he arrived in NYC about 15 years back, he was homeless and lived in a homeless shelter. He spent every day at the library, teaching himself HTML coding. After six weeks of study, he was able to start doing web design, which he still does, as well as comedy. My opinion of him rose.
November 7, 2006: My second missed gig. Again, I was scheduled to participate in a contest of amateur comedians at the Sweetwater Bar and Grill in Westminster. I called first and due to various crises at the club, the comedy competition had not been advertised and been cancelled for that night. I swear, this gig is star-crossed.